Sometimes, especially in the current competitive job market, deciding which candidate is the best fit for an open position may be the biggest challenge. In other cases, perfecting a job description and posting is the hardest task. For some businesses there is difficulty in finding the time to interview each applicant.

But once a company has narrowed down the field to a few potential hires, another challenge begins. A final decision must be made and a job offer must be given out. If this process isn’t standardized, routine, and repeatable, human resource departments can significantly elevate a key human resources metric, the cost per hire.

The first action item after a selection has been made is to conduct a pre-hiring reference check to ensure a candidate is recommended by previous employers and references. If nothing alarming is found in the reference check the next step is to send an offer letter to the candidate.

A job offer letter should include should include a welcome statement, the position title, a start date, annual compensation and potential bonus eligibility. Also, any agreed upon deviations should be included, such as a pre-arranged vacation. Many parts of a job offer letter can be standardized and working off a template is a generally accepted best practice.

To help streamline the onboarding process and help a human resources department gather necessary information each job offer letter should be accompanied by an employee information sheet, I-9 form, W-4 form, consent to physical exam form (if needed), and an employee confidentiality agreement.

Also, included in the job offer letter should be a timeframe for acceptance of the position. A company needs to ensure that a date is given to the potential hire in which they need to respond by to accept. This way a company will know whether to move on to another candidate in a reasonable time period.

Be sure that the top choice has accepted the job offer before sending rejection letters to other finalists. For extra precaution it may also be a good idea to wait before the person clears all checks and testing before notifying finalists that they did not get the job. That way, there is a pool of replacements available in the case that a top choice doesn’t work out.

Has your human resources department perfected the job offer? What is your cost per hire?

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